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Prostitution

Prostitution: the act of providing sexual services in exchange for money; has existed in society longer than many realize. Commonly referred to as the worlds oldest profession, prostitution dates back to biblical times. The issue at hand is not whether the act of prostitution is immoral; but rather, is prostitution a crime? Is it a crime when two consenting adults have sex? Why should the fact that money has been exchanged in return for sexual services make the act a crime? The attempt to suppress prostitution has been made for centuries; however, the profession not only remains but also continues to thrive. Only through the legalization of prostitution are we then better able to control other crimes that are closely associated.

So, what should the legal status of prostitution be? Should prostitution continue to be a criminal offense? Should prostitution be decriminalized or legalized? In order to make a determination, we must first understand the different meanings. According to the legal dictionary at Law.com, a crime is defined as a violation of a law in which there is injury to the public or a member of the public and a term in jail or prison, and/or a fine as possible penalties. Criminalizing sexual activities is an oppressive restriction of our individual liberty and denial of our freedom. Decriminalization (or tolerance) is the repeal or amendment of statutes that made certain acts criminal, so that those acts no longer are crimes subject to prosecution. On the other hand, legalization (or regulation) removes a legal prohibition against something that is currently illegal. Decriminalizing or simply tolerating prostitution is not enough. Legalization is the only way to refine prostitution and the criminal acts closely associated. Legalization will allow for safer environments for prostitutes, provide health screenings, reduce the widespread victimization of prostitutes and eliminate criminals trafficking in women and children.

Countless anti-prostitution feminists like Melissa Farley continue to make the argument that prostitutes, or "sex-workers", a term introduced by Carol Leigh an American feminist in the 1970s, are victims. Taking into consideration; the countless studies and surveys conducted, yes, it appears that sex-workers are victims. However, what exactly are sex-workers victims of? Surely, feminists are not attempting to blind us into believing that sex-workers are victims of sex, are they? Sex-workers are not victims of the act of sex itself; otherwise, every sexually active person in the world would be considered a victim. Sex-workers are commonly victims of other crimes associated with prostitution such as drug abuse, sexual assault, and physical assault. In 2001, the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless (CCH) conducted a survey of 235 women detained in the Cook County Jail; According to this study, "74% of sex-workers had been sexually assaulted" and "69% had been attacked with a weapon." (p.15). Now, merely the association of these crimes with the act of prostitution does not mean that one causes the other. Convenience store clerks are at a high risk of becoming victims of physical assault, robbery and being attacked with a weapon and there are countless acts of sexual assault, drug abuse, and physical assault committed everyday that are in no way connected to sex-workers or prostitution. Nevertheless, the fact remains that sex-workers are victims of other more serious crimes. Legalization would allow for safer environments for sex-workers and allow sex-workers to come out of the shadows and report serious crimes that are committed against them.

Another issue thrown into the debate on prostitution is morality. Morality is the determination of what society views as right or wrong. In other words, morality is the opinion of society. Many believe that Mary Magdalene portrayed in the Bible was a sacred or temple prostitute. A sacred or temple prostitute would have sexual intercourse, with a...

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...Prostitution
I. Introduction
II. Content
A. About prostitutionProstitution is
a) Sexual harassment
b) rape
c) battering
d) verbal abuse
e) domestic violence
f) a racist practice
g) a violation of human rights
h) childhood sexual abuse
i) a consequence of male domination of women
j) a means of maintaining male domination of women
Prostitution is the granting of sexual access on a relatively indiscriminate basis for payment either in money or in goods, depending on the complexity of the local economic system. Payment is acknowledged to be for a specific sexual performance. Prostitution is a service that may be performed by either males or females and for either males or females, although in practice in nearly all societies acts of prostitution are commonly performed by females for males or by males for males.
B. Information About Prostitution
The commercial sex industry includes street prostitution, massage brothels, escort services, outcall services, strip clubs, lapdancing, phone sex, adult and child pornography, video and internet pornography, and prostitution tourism. Most women who are in prostitution for longer than a few months drift among these various permutations of the commercial sex industry.
C. Kinds of Prostitution
Direct Forms of Prostitution
Number Type of...

...Prostitution in Nigeria
Prostitution is most common in impoverished nations, where it serves only as another means for survival. As a third world country in West Africa, Nigeria serves as a good example of a country where a bad economy and a society thriving to succeed influence the rise of prostitution. Prostitution in Nigeria is majorly existent on university campuses, where girls are fully developed in biologically. Such high rates of prostitution at this level of education are caused by lack of parental control and peer pressure to fit into a materialistic society. (Uzokwe), contrary to the popular belief that prostitution in third world countries is the result of a need-based economy that girls only go into prostitution because they have no other options in life and it serves as a sole means of survival.
Parental responsibility is an important aspect of Nigerian culture. Children highly value and respect the opinions of their parents. However, when parents start to promote and refuse to hinder notorious activities such as prostitution, the downfall of a child is long awaiting. All our lives, when we get scolded at by our parents, get punished or are restricted from doing certain things, we eagerly await the day we finally get away from them; to finally be free. The start of a university education represents that freedom. It represents...

...What are the different types of prostitution?
General Reference (not clearly pro or con)
Hilary L. Surratt, PhD, Associate Scientist for the Center for Drug and Alcohol Studies at the University of Delaware, et. al., in the July 2005 Journal of Psychology & Human Sexuality study titled "The Connections of Mental Health Problems, Violent Life Experiences, and the Social Milieu of the 'Stroll' with the HIV Risk Behaviors of Female Street Sex Workers," wrote:
"...[I]n contrast to popular thinking, female sex workers are an extremely heterogeneous population. They are situated in a myriad of social and environmental contexts...
Past and current studies suggest that there are many different types of female sex workers, including 'call girls' and escorts working in the upper echelons of the sex industry, 'in-house' sex workers working in parlors or brothels, 'street-walkers' who sell sex for money through sidewalk solicitations, part-timers who supplement their incomes with sex-for-pay, and drug-involved street-based sex workers, the majority of whom shift between sex-for-money and sex-for-drug exchanges as circumstances require."
July 2005 - Hilary L. Surratt, PhD
________________________________________
Christine Harcourt, PhD, Research Fellow for the National Centre in HIV Epidemiology & Clinical Research at the University of New South Wales, and Basil Donovan, MD, Professor of Sexual Health at National Centre in HIV Epidemiology and Clinical...

...academic discussion about prostitution and some terms which may offend some of us will be used. As much as possible, the audience is requested to see and view the topics being presented with an open mind.
Prostitution
It is the act or practice of engaging in sex acts for hire. ‡ It is said to be derived from a composition of two Latin words: (preposition) pro and (verb) statuere. A literal translation therefore would be: to expose , to place up front .
In most cultures, prostitution is viewed as a deviant profession, either discouraged or illegal; however, motivations vary from the implications of those potentially exposed to that activity to whether it constitutes or not an exploitative practice. ‡ Contrary to the popular notion, prostitution is NOT the world s oldest profession that would be hunting, gathering and subsistence farming .
Brief History
As early as 1900 B.C., the ancient society of Mesopotamia recognized the need to protect women's property rights which included female prostitutes. ‡ 6th Century B.C.: Solon Establishes State-Funded Brothels in Greece ‡ 590 A.D.: The newly-converted Reccared I, Visigoth King of Spain, banned prostitution as part of an effort to bring his country into alignment with Christian ideology.
1161: King Henry II regulates but does not ban prostitution ‡ 1358: Italy embraces prostitution declaring it as absolutely indispensible...

...150,000 Filipina women have been trafficked into prostitution in Japan. (Press Statement, Bangladesh National Women Lawyers Association, “Open sale of little girls at Tanbaza brothel,” Daily Star, 2 July 1998)
150 Filipinas were sold into prostitution to night club operators in African countries, particularly Nigeria. The women were bought for $5,000 each by international syndicates. Four Filipinas were rescued by the Philippine Embassy in Lagos, Nigeria after they sought help from officials. (Bureau of Immigration, Lira S. Dalagin, “150 Pinays sold as sex slaves in Africa,” Manila Chronicle, 31 May 1995)
In 1991, Filipinas were being sold in Japan, often to the Yakuza, at $2,400 to $18,000 each. (CATW – Asia Pacific, Trafficking in Women and Prostitution in the Asia Pacific)
In 1996, 492 of 3,776 reported cases of child abuse involved pornography, prostitution, paedophilia and trafficking. There were 8,335 cases of child abuse from 1991-1996, 96% of the victims were females. (Department of Social Welfare and Development, “375,000 Filipino Women & Kids Are Into Prostitution,” PhilippineDaily Inquirer, 26 July 1997)
Philippine women are vulnerable to trafficking due to the Asian economic crisis. Requests for entertainer visas for Japan did not decline in the first six months of 1998. Travel to Japan increased 21% in the first half of this year compared with the same period in 1997. The label...

...Question 6: Prostitution
Most feminists believe that prostitution exploits and objectifies women. Simultaneously, both Simone de Beauvoir and Andrea Dworkin felt that the institution of marriage was also a form of prostitution. They both agreed that both marriage and prostitution are extremely oppressive and dangerous for women. In Simon de Beauvoir's Prostitutes and Hetairas, she said, "The only difference between prostitution and those who sell themselves into marriage, is in the price and length of the contract (de Beavoir, pg. 555)." In Feminism: An Agenda, Andrea Dworkin said that in marriage women lose rights over their own bodies. "You must have sex with your husband when he wants. That is his legal right and your obligation." She went on to say that "In marriage you only have to make a deal with one man (Dworkin, pg. 146)."
Both feminists seemed to agree that as long as we live in a predominantly patriarchal society, many women will be economically dependent on men, and there will always be those forced to use their body as a commodity. Dworkin said that "The economic exploitation of women as a class (unequal pay for the same work as men) means that we have to sell sex and that makes us, as a class, not irrationally viewed as prostitutes by men whether they call us a prostitute or not (Dworkin, pg. 146)."
This is the very reason why egotistical rich men think they can buy trophy wives,...

...can be traced back to all ancient cultures and societies. Today, it remains one of the most profitable industries in the world. However, the morality and legality of prostitution has resulted in controversy with highly polarized views on its legal status. In the United States, prostitution is illegal; however, debates between the liberal and radical feminists exemplify prostitution as a critical social issue.
Gaining its origins in the late nineteenth century, pro-abolition activists and anti-prostitution feminists opposed prostitution completely. They argued that prostitution is an uncivilized, violent act that degrades women and the whole American society. These feminists are often seen as radical for their strong theories. However, they create awareness that prostitution reinforces gender stereotypes and contributes to the oppression of women. Concerned over society’s morality, these radical feminists hold a structural-functionalist perspective on prostitution; by repressing prostitution, the society is able to maintain sexual norms and function properly.
In contrast, beginning in the 1970s, liberal feminism reexamined prostitution, finding it to have potential as a career choice. The liberal feminists divided prostitution into forced prostitution and sex work. While against the acts of forced...

...﻿Introduction
Prostitution might be illegal in India, but the business of life goes on. Calling it illegal is superfluous formality. Recognizing it as a profession will atleast reduce the real illegalities that come with it, like child prostitution, drug abuse and crime. In many jurisdictions prostitution is illegal. In other places prostitution itself (exchanging sex for money) is legal, but surrounding activities (such as soliciting in a public place, operating a brothel, and pimping) are illegal.
Prostitution has been condemned as a single form of human rights abuse, and an attack on the dignity and worth of human beings, while other schools of thought state that sex work is a legitimate occupation; whereby a person trades or exchanges sexual acts for money and/or goods.
Legalization of the profession will infuse dignity in the lives of women trading their bodies to make a living. It will also lead to better acceptance of this segment into the mainstream society and they can enjoy the basic amenities and human rights in an uninhibited manner.
Prostitution in Early days
Prostitution enjoyed an exalted status in early Indian societies as is evident from the celebrated concept of Nagarvadhu or bride of the town. Vaishali’s Amrapali was a typical example of Nagarvadhus. Kalinga and other temple towns used to have Dev-dasis, meaning slave of the deity, who served as temple...